Diamond Quotes:
“True friends are like diamonds – bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style.”
–
Nicole Richie
“There are three things extremely hard: steel, diamond, and to know one’s self.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Pecos Diamond Factoid: Pecos diamonds can be opaque (milky), translucent (frosted), or nearly transparent (clear), with a wide range of colors.
While preparing for this series and searching for interesting quotes, I found the following quote that made me pause to think. To be honest, it startled me at first, and it left quite an impact on my thoughts.
“Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine it would not cure anyone.”
--A.Z. Tozer
That’s a scathing remark for us as Christians, but unfortunately I fear there is quite a bit of truth in that statement. I don’t think we have any problem when we are in church or with our Christian friends, but the conflict comes when we are on our own—at work, in the stores, in our neighborhood, you name it—anyplace where we don’t have the “back up” of our Christian friends. We want to blend in and not stand out just in case (or in fear) someone should ask us a question about God or the Bible that we might not be able to answer.
We know that Bible study is important, and we’ll visit that topic soon. But did you know that we are instructed to be ready to explain our Christian hope if someone asks us about it? Peter wrote about this in his first epistle. We are not supposed to dodge the question or hem-haw our way out of it.
1 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT) …you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.
If you claim to be a Christian, be what you claim to be—but be ready to tell why it is important to you. This is a huge challenge to all of us, myself included! We know what we are, whose we are; and, we’ve talked about how we become what we are—maybe now it is time to ponder, examine, and proclaim why we have chosen to follow Christ. At the end of this devotional, there is a resource to help you get started. I have complied several Bible verses to help you begin your journey to boldly proclaim our basic Christian beliefs, but remember this is only a beginning and you may have several other favorite Bible verses to include in your personal testimony of faith.
Gracious Heavenly Father,
We confess that sometimes we lack courage when we stand alone in the world without our Christian friends nearby. Nevertheless, you call us to be ready to explain why being your child is so important to us, and why we hold the Christian hope so dear. Grant us courage to stand up for you in whatever location you place us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.
The devotional What? You’re Asking ME? appeared first for a Pecos Diamonds Devotional series, written and compiled by Dotty Willmon, August-September 2018;
updated and posted September 2024 on Write From My Heart at
https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com
email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com
Getting Started with Our Testimony of Faith
I choose to believe God is real:
Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart “There is no God.”
Isaiah 43:10-12 Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses, declares the LORD, that I am God.
Mark 12:32 (NLT) The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other.”
I choose to believe that I am a sinner, and I need a savior:
Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…
Romans 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
I choose to believe that Jesus Christ is real, that he is God’s Son, and that he died as the perfect sacrifice to atone (i.e., pay the penalty) for my sins:
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Matthew 1:20-21 …what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, who I love; with him I am well pleased.”
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 10:9-10, 13 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. … for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
I choose to believe that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so I also have the Blessed Hope of resurrection and the future hope of life in God’s Kingdom to be with Christ for all eternity:
1 Corinthians 6:14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.
Job 19:25-27 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Isaiah 26:19 But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy.
John 6:40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
2 Peter 3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Revelation 21:1, 3-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. … And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has pass away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
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